


Second Time Lucky

by pizzaguy



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Hospital, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-12
Updated: 2013-05-29
Packaged: 2017-12-11 15:14:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/800141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pizzaguy/pseuds/pizzaguy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mose Shepard works at a hospital, flirts with a new intern, and gets a second chance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pillows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to PetitAvocat for beta reading this - you're a saint.

Moses Shepard was late to work. Again.

On Monday, he’d forgotten to launder his scrubs. Tuesday, his alarm clock broke: he’d sprinted out of the house at around 8:10, frantically clicking the lock remote as he approached his car and colliding with the door nonetheless. Wednesday saw him racing up the street ten minutes before his shift started, hot on the trail of his neighbor’s escaped dog, and today?

“I haven’t been sleeping well lately,” he began to explain. His boss, an elderly Salarian doctor with one missing horn and a hell of a short attention span, had accosted him as he walked through the emergency room doors (he was supposed to use the staff entrance, but this was quicker and he was already late).

Dr Solus regarded him with wary black eyes. “Noticed. Have been late all week. Bags under eyes. Yawning. Colloquially: look like shit.”

Shepard smiled apologetically, rather lost for words.

The doctor waved his hand dismissively. “Not going to fire you. Long-term employee. Good nurse. Great friend.”

“Thanks, doc, I won’t let it happen ag -“

“Aware,” he interrupted, nodding shortly. “Young drell couple with infant on window side of emergency room. Panicking.”

“What is it?”

“Just a cold,” Solus told him, “But… not good with children. Want you to talk to them.”

“I’ll head over now,” Shepard assured him. He had just begun to walk away when the doctor called after him. “Something else?”

“New intern. Working alongside Lawson in triage.” The doctor leaned closer, cupping his hand around his mouth and whispering conspiratorially: “Keep eye on him.”

Shepard nodded. “I’ll go and say hello once I’ve spoken to that couple.

Solus brightened, then, dropping his scheming tone and smiling cheerfully. “Brilliant. Also check out ass. Aesthetically pleasing by human standards - your standards.”

“Mordin,” the nurse grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

The doctor shrugged, feigning innocence. “What? Recommendation of potential mates not socially acceptable in human society?”

“I’ll see you at break,” Shepard grimaced, and left.

 

\---

 

The doctor had been right. Horribly, wonderfully right. Even under the hospital scrubs, Shepard was fairly certain that this intern’s ass was in fact a pair of holy pillows woven by a troupe of particularly talented angels. _Under the scrubs_. Now, _that_ was a thought.

“… Can I help you?”

 _Yep._ “You’re new here, right? I just thought I’d stop by and say pillow.” He cringed. “Hello. I meant to say hello.”

The intern chuckled. There were tiny crinkles at the corners of his eyes. Shepard hoped he wasn’t staring too obviously. “Not enough sleep?”

“Oh yeah,” Shepard nodded. It was true enough.

“I’m Kaidan,” the intern introduced himself, offering his hand.

“Moses,” said Shepard, accepting the handshake, "But most people just call me Mose. How are you settling in?”

Kaidan glanced around the room. He was smiling, but Shepard was fairly sure it was forced - he’d have to be feeling the pressure. The emergency room was hectic at the best of times. “Fine so far,” Kaidan answered, then added with surprising honesty: “Lawson has been very helpful, but I get the feeling she doesn’t like me.”

Shepard grinned. “I thought the same thing for… hell, about a year? She was here before me, and I thought she was mad at me because I took over some of her shifts.”

“But?”

“But it turns out she’d only been here for a couple months longer than I had, and she was worried that I was adapting better than her.” He winked. “Miranda holds herself to some pretty high standards, but she’s just as human as the rest of us. Don’t tell her I said that, though.”

Kaidan smiled, and this time, it was genuine. “Thanks. That makes me feel a whole lot better.”

Shepard checked his watch, more to break the silence than anything. It was later than he’d thought. “Listen, I should probably get back to work…”

“Me too.”

“Damn right. Don’t give Miranda a real reason to dislike you.” His tone was stern, but there was a mischievious glint in his eyes.

“Yes sir,” Kaidan said, saluting him jokingly.

Shepard raised an eyebrow, but chose to ignore it otherwise. “And hey, uh, before you go…”

Kaidan cocked his head inquisitively. “Meet for lunch?”

“… Yeah,” Shepard said, with a slightly perplexed smile. _I was that obvious? Really?_

“I’d like that a lot.”

_Me too._


	2. Preferably Vanilla

Given how well things had been going, it was no wonder that they took a turn for the worse as the day wore on.

First, and absolutely the worst as well: Shepard missed the lunch date. Ten minutes before break, an ambulance had pulled up outside the wide glass doors, sirens wailing ominously. It turned out to contain a group of krogan who, as far as the driver could ascertain, had gotten into a fight whilst waiting in a cafe queue and had refused to let the fact that they were injured and in transit distract them from their brawl. Breaking up the fight was difficult - Shepard had to ask the ambulance driver for help - and the mess left behind was nothing less than apocalyptic.

The driver, Steve, was an old friend of Shepard’s. Shepard refused his offer to stay and help with the cleanup, insisting that he was probably needed at the scene of some accident or another, but Steve explained (rather sheepishly) that his shift had ended an hour ago..

“Go home, then,” Shepard told him, rather sternly. “And say hi to Robert for me.”

“Will do,” Steve replied, with a wave, and left.

 

 

In retrospect, his help would’ve been appreciated. The hospital was short-staffed, and Shepard was too polite to ask anybody else for help. They all seemed so busy. He’d have to apologise to Kaidan later.

The opportunity to do so never arose, however, and if he had to judge, he’d call that the second worst thing about the day. It was dark outside by the time he found a break in duties, and by then, the intern was nowhere to be seen.

He caught up with Miranda just as she was leaving. She was carrying an umbrella in one hand, and in the other, the largest thermos he’d ever laid eyes upon.

“Coffee?”

“Tea, actually,” she said. Her words were less clipped than usual, and Shepard suspected she’d been awake for much longer than he had. “Something you wanted to ask?”

Shepard nodded. “How’s the new intern working out?”

She looked at him with something closely resembling pity. “Moses, please. I’m in a hurry. If you need to talk about something, don’t skirt around it.”

He couldn’t help chuckling. “Sorry, Miranda. I was meant to meet up with him for lunch today, but something came up.”

“Three large somethings with a tendency to headbutt before asking questions?”

Shepard nodded. “Exactly. And…”

“I haven’t got his number,” she interrupted, “but I can give him yours tomorrow morning.”

Relief washed over him. “Thanks, Miranda. I owe you.”

She smirked. “Bring me a cupcake from that new store on Fifth, tomorrow morning. Gluten free. Preferably vanilla.”

“Got it,” he said.

She had already started walking.

 

 

 

Miranda, as it turned out, was right to have brought an umbrella. By the time Shepard had turned out of the parking lot, it was pouring; he suspected he’d be drenched as soon as he stepped outside of the car.

When he finally did, he was met not only by the rain but by his neighbor’s dog, in the midst of another escape attempt.

“C’mere, Ben,” he coaxed.

The dog wagged its tail playfully.

Shepard sighed in exasperation. “It’s dark out, pal. We can’t play now. You’ve got to go home.”

The dog stared at him with beady black eyes. A thick rope of drool descended from its mouth.

Shepard lunged forward and caught the dog by its collar. It whined in protest, staring up at him balefully.

“Don’t give me that look,” Shepard grumbled, starting toward his neighbor’s house.

 

 

 

David Anderson lived alone, aside from his dog. If you asked him what he did for a living, he would laugh and tell you he complained; he was, in fact, a retired architect.

He was also the best neighbour Shepard had ever been fortunate enough to have, regardless of his escape-artist dog.

“He got out again?” Anderson was at the door within seconds, looking rather comical in striped blue pyjamas.

Shepard nodded. “Did I wake you up?”

Anderson shook his head. “You’re not the only one having bad dreams.” He took hold of Ben’s collar, leading the dog into the house. “Thanks for bringing him back.”

“No problem.”

“I should really get around to fixing that fence,” Anderson sighed, staring begrudgingly at the fence in question. “Anyway. Got time for a beer?”

“That’s tempting, Anderson, but I’ve got to get to bed. It’s been kind of a rough day.”

Anderson nodded, understanding. “Probably a good idea.”

“G’night,” Mose said, and yawned as if on cue. “Let me know if you need help with that fence.”

“Will do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to PetitAvocat for beta reading and editing.


	3. Nyreen

Shepard found, as he often did, that he was suddenly less tired once he got into bed.

It might’ve been the shower. What had started as a way to wash away the day’s troubles (as well as a substantial amount of krogan blood) had quickly escalated into a steamy fantasy involving mood lighting, a bubble bath, and the new intern. It had ended…  _well._  The shower wall had probably seen better days, and Shepard had a feeling he’d be revisiting that particular scenario sometime in the very near future.

He folded his pillow around his head, beaming foolishly in the dark. He had a good feeling about this, about all of this. Miranda would sort everything out (she had a way of doing so), and even if Kaidan wasn’t interested in - 

-  _a relationship_ , a tiny voice whispered in his head, and he gripped the pillow tighter, almost embarrassed at his own nerve -

\- then he’d still have a new friend. A cute friend. With a great ass.

He didn’t sleep for any longer than usual, but he woke up smiling.

 

 

 

Kaidan caught the wrong bus and arrived at work two hours early.  
  


Unsure of what to do, he settled for sitting behind the triage desk and exchanging small talk with the nurse in attendance.

The nurse, a turian named Nyreen, contrasted starkly with Miranda. Where Miranda was brisk and businesslike, Nyreen was patient and friendly. She kept him entertained with stories from the emergency room, and thanked him graciously when he left and returned with two cups of coffee.

“You seemed pretty tired,” Kaidan explained. He held his coffee cup with both hands, soaking up the warmth; it was still half dark outside, and the hospital was chilly.

“I do night shifts,” Nyreen confirmed, gingerly lifting the lid of her coffee cup. “This is the dextro one, right?”

“Yeah, the barista wrote it on the side.”

Nyreen rotated the cup, and found that Kaidan had been right. Satisfied, she took a sip, and continued: “At first I took these shifts because I wasn’t sleeping. Now I’m constantly tired.”

Kaidan smiled sympathetically. “Yeah. I know how that is.”

She looked him over, mandibles twitching. “You a sleepwalker?”

He shook his head. “Nah, I just have neighbors who like loud parties.” He narrowed his eyes a little. “Wait, are you?”

“No, but maybe I should start telling people that. It’s a hell of a lot more interesting than a girlfriend who always hogs the blankets.”

Kaidan burst out laughing. “Have you told her that?”

Nyreen answered no with a shake of her head, and her mandibles flared in a grin. “She’d kick my ass,” she snickered, “and not in a fun way.”

Kaidan choked on his coffee a bit.

“So,” Nyreen said conversationally, though there was still a smile in her voice. “Planning on staying here for the long run?”

“I hope so,” Kaidan told her. “It’s been… hectic, but there’s a lot of nice people around.”

Nyreen made a show of being flattered, fanning herself with her three-taloned hand. Kaidan laughed again, and apologised for being sappy (unnecessarily, if Nyreen's shrug was anything to go by).

“But really,” the turian woman continued, “Don’t you work with Lawson? Not exactly what I’d call welcoming.”

“You two aren’t friends?”

“All I know about her is that she told me off for putting my feet up on the desk. More than once. She seems…”

“Intense?”

Nyreen shrugged. “I was going to say she seems like she’d be fun in bed, but I guess that works too,” she said mildly.

Kaidan was pretty sure he hadn’t laughed this much for years - not at five in the morning, at least.

“What I’m saying is, she's hot, but she’s not what I’d call friendly.”

“Yeah, I guess I hear you there. But… I don’t know. Everyone else kind of made up for it.”

“Everyone?” If Nyreen were human, she may have quirked an eyebrow.

“… Someone,” Kaidan clarified. He was getting a sneaking suspicion that Nyreen knew much more than she was letting on. “Or at least… I think so.”

She cocked her head a little to the side, encouraging him to continue. The mannerism reminded him of a parrot (not that he’d ever say that to her, of course).

He chose his words carefully. “We were meant to meet up for lunch, but I think he got caught up in work. Or… I hope he did. Is that, you know. Sappy?”

“Incredibly,” Nyreen deadpanned. “If it’s the guy I’m thinking of, though, then I can tell you right now - he didn’t stand you up on purpose.”

And there it was. The light at the end of the tunnel. Kaidan seized the opportunity.

“He’s, uh, he’s a nurse here. Red hair, kind of… tall, maybe around 6’2” - do turians even measure in feet and inches…?”

Nyreen resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Nope. Green eyes, constant smile, looks more like a soldier than a nurse?” Her voice was teasing, but it was not unkind. “Yeah, I know him.”

Kaidan was fairly sure he would embarrass himself by asking, but he did so nonetheless: “So he’s not giving me the cold shoulder?”

“The cold…?” Nyreen frowned. “Ugh, never mind." _Humans._  "If Mose - we’re talking about Mose, right? - if he asked you on a date, then he wanted to go on a date with you. He’s not the type to lie.”

Kaidan exhaled a breath he didn’t even realise he’d been holding. “Good. I mean -” he corrected himself, slightly mortified upon seeing the look of amusement on Nyreen’s face, “I don’t know. I’m new here. Not just at the hospital but in this city, too, and… it’s be nice to know somebody. You know?”

It was the truth. Or at least, he thought it was. Perhaps Mose reminded him of somebody, or maybe he was just another lonely guy in the crowd. They’d have that in common.

He looked at Nyreen. She seemed no less amused.

“Well, listen, if you do get to know him…” Her mandibles were quivering, and he suspected she was holding back laughter, “Don’t spare any details when you tell me about it.”


	4. Butterflies

Kaidan left the office to use the bathroom. When he returned, Miranda was sitting primly at the desk, her ankles crossed beneath the chair.  

He cleared his throat.  

"I've got something for you," she said, spinning around on her chair and coming to a graceful halt.  

He raised an eyebrow, vainly hoping that the 'something' in question was either a day off or a nice steak sandwich. It was neither.  

"Here," she said, tearing the top sheet off a notepad on her desk.  

He took it. "This is...?"  

"From your friend in nursing." Her voice was aloof, but she was smiling. "He wanted to apologise."  

"That's -" he started, then paused. He'd embarrassed himself in front of Nyreen already, and he doubted Miranda would be any more forgiving. He decided to play it cool. "Is that all?"  

Miranda eyed him, looking rather bored. "I'm fairly sure he's after more than that, but this is a professional environment and I'd prefer to keep it that way."  

_Damn._ Kaidan was relatively certain that he was blushing. "I'll, uh, you know. I'll go... make that call."

Miranda nodded, and turned away before he could see her smiling.   

 

 

 

"Mmph. Hello?"  

Kaidan stifled a guilty chuckle. _Not a morning person._ "Hey, there. Did I wake you up?"  

Shepard answered him with a yawn. "Sorry," he mumbled, voice heavy with sleep.  

"Lawson gave me your number, I hope that's okay -"  

"'S fine, I asked her to."

"That's -"  

"I'm paying her in cupcakes," Shepard continued, letting out another yawn.  

"In...?"  

"Sorry. What I meant to say was, I'm really sorry about yesterday. I hope you weren't waiting too long."  

He'd waited for an hour and a half. Miranda had snapped at him for being late. "No, I figured you were busy."  

"I didn't want to be," Shepard said earnestly.  

_I didn't want you to be either,_ Kaidan wanted to say, but it was too early in the morning for stomach butterflies, so he settled instead for: "It's no problem. I had a lot to do yesterday, anyway."  

"Yeah," Shepard replied, rather flatly.

There was silence over the line.  

"You still there?" Kaidan heard the hesitation in his own voice.  

"Yep. Yeah. Um..." Another pause. "Listen, on the off chance that you don't think I'm an inconsiderate asshole, could we - I mean, would you like to try this all again? Oh god, don't laugh, I'm sorry for even -"  

"Mose, it's okay." He laughed anyway, but it was harmless, even affectionate. "How does Friday night sound?"  

"Spectacular," he breathed. His voice crackled through the speakers, but it was the thought that counted.   

 

 

To say the rest of the week was spent waiting for Friday would be somewhat of a lie. The rest of the week was, in fact, spent mopping up messes and comforting screaming children of various species in the emergency room, while Dr Solus flitted around him, asking unwanted questions about his personal life.  

So, business as usual. Friday itself arrived without fanfare, and that day's shift seemed to last an eternity.

Miranda stopped by to help him in the afternoon. He asked her what she'd thought of the gluten-free vanilla cupcake; she answered that it had been delectable and, should the night's upcoming events go well, he would most likely owe her another.  

"Perhaps two," she added, with an entirely uncharacteristic wink, "if he puts out."  

"If he -" Shepard spluttered, "Hey, who says I'm going to go that far? On a first date?"  

She gave him a disparaging look, then; one he'd come to mentally refer to as the "Moses, please" look.  

He pinched the bridge of his nose, defeated. "Fine," he muttered sheepishly.  

Miranda smirked a very satisfied smirk.


	5. Important Date

They met at a tiny, cosy cafe.

Shepard was a good half hour early, this time, looking nervous but well-intentioned in dark jeans and a smart jacket. If his hair was long (and it wasn't), he might've slicked it back; instead, he neatened it to match the length of his stubble and hoped to whatever higher power there may be that he hadn't missed a spot.  

If he had, Kaidan didn't mention it. "Have you been here long?"  

Shepard replied with a shake of his head. "Just got here," he lied, smiling rather tightly. His hands were shaking, just a little. He hid them in his pockets.  

They found a table. The chairs were mismatched, the only similarity being their overstuffedness. Shepard sat, and found that he was a great deal further from the table than he would have liked. He tried to hunch down a bit. Kaidan noticed.

"At least they're comfy," he offered, running a hand through his immaculate black hair.  

Shepard wondered whether he might be a bit nervous too. He decided to press on. "How are you settling in at work?"  

Kaidan smiled at him, just a little, and it was all Shepard needed to know that the ice was effectively broken. The intern explained that it was hectic, but not stressful; he told him about his chat with Nyreen, and about Miranda's prospensity to eat cupcakes by picking bits off with her fingers, and about his initial fear of Dr Solus:  

"He kept staring at me like I was something under a microscope," Kaidan laughed. He was stirring his drink with a straw, and his eyes would roam around the room on occasion but always come to rest straight ahead. Under any other circumstance it would've made Shepard nervous, but he kept up just fine. Kaidan's eyes were brown, but they glinted almost gold in the soft light; Shepard found himself enthralled.  

"... And then I guess he was done talking, and he told me I had a bit of something pink on my face." He was rubbing his cheek absent-mindedly, as if recalling the exact spot the pink had been. "He asked me whether I'd been experiencing chills or... I don't know, bouts of nausea. I think he thought I was sick. I had to explain to him that Lawson got mad at me and flicked a bit of icing at my face."  

Shepard chortled. "Did he believe you?"  

Kaidan grinned. "God, no. And he's _inscrutable_ , I thought he was going to fire me... he just told me to get some rest and drink lots of water."  

They laughed then, together, and when that laughter died down, they found themselves unoccupied but for looking into each other's eyes.

Shepard smiled, and though it was tiny, just barely there, Kaidan smiled in return.  

"So, uh... coffee? At my house?"  

Kaidan's smile grew into a grin. "I think I'd like that."      

 

 

 

The street was quiet when they pulled into the driveway. Shepard had spent a majority of the car trip there hoping that Ben the dog had not escaped again, not tonight, and then thinking of all the possible worst-case scenarios that could arise if he had.

The dog was not out, however, and they were able to traverse the front steps unimpeded.  

Or. Not.  

Because midway, Kaidan - Kaidan who had spent the last few minutes of their date staring at him with heavy-lidded eyes, Kaidan who had laughed at all his jokes and held his hand on the way to the car - Kaidan caught him by the lapels of his jacket and kissed him.  

And maybe he only intended it to be for a second, but Shepard would never know, because Shepard had kissed him back. Hard. Harder. His hands found the small of Kaidan's back and called it home and his heart raced faster than he thought was possible. He pressed closer, not with confidence but with need, as though he'd been starved of this for years, and the other man responded in turn.  

Shepard inhaled deeply as they parted. The air between them was all aftershave and cologne and... something he suspected was hairgel, and he wanted to reach up and find out, but he resisted.  

They ventured inside. Kaidan lingered in the hallway, toeing off his shoes and taking in the sights of the entryway - white walls, Spartan floorboards, a lone corkboard on the wall covered in a smattering of photographs. He wondered about that, and the emptiness of the house otherwise: did Shepard move around a lot, or was he just a neat freak?  

He stepped into the kitchen. Shepard was there already, pressing buttons on the most complex-looking coffee machine Kaidan had ever seen. He looked slightly panicked.  

Kaidan smiled in spite of himself. _Of course he would invite me back "for coffee" and actually expect us to have coffee._ If nothing else, it was at least endearing.  

"Milk or sugar?"  

"Both. Thanks." He stood beside Shepard, and leant against the counter. "And thanks for tonight."  

"Thanks for the second chance," Shepard replied, looking away from the coffee machine for a moment to smile appreciatively. Kaidan used this as an opportunity to steal another kiss. This one was softer, almost teasing; they broke apart only to end up together again, both leaning in in perfect synchronisation. Like they'd done this before, together, like muscle memory or returning home after a long day.  

"I -" Shepard began, but he was interrupted by the shrill beeping of the coffee machine.   

They sat opposite each other at the table and drank their coffee in silence. Every few sips, one of them would glance up and find that the other was staring, and this went on for a fair while until Kaidan spoke up:  

"Tell me if I'm out of line here," he began cautiously, and his nervousness was almost palpable, "but... I didn't come here just for coffee, Mose."  

Shepard set his cup down on the table, and when he spoke it was with breathless anticipation: "I was really hoping you'd say that."  

 

On Monday morning, Miranda found an entire box of cupcakes waiting at her desk.

**Author's Note:**

> Beta-read by PetitAvocat (thanks, again).


End file.
